When Jörg
Demus made his debut in New York in the mid nineteen fifties, his name
was not new to the music loving public in America as, from 1950 on,
his earliest recordings had been available in the US, and exclusively
on the Remington label of Don Gabor. Of course the recordings were made
in Austria and were produced by Marcel Prawy who arranged for the recordings
of not only Jörg Demus but many other pianists, violinists and
cellists, and he was responsible for the recordings with the Viennese
Symphonic Orchestra which often was also called Niederössterreichisches
Tonkünstler Orchester and Austrian Symphony Orchestra.
Right from the
first releases on Remington, the interpretations of Jörg Demus
were loved because of the sensitivity of playing and the perfect phrasing,
and they were admired because of his superb technique. And all this
despite the often less than perfect (to put it mildly) matrix production
and pressings of so many a Remington disc.
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Yet, one cannot
resist being captivated by the spell of Jörg Demus's playing of
the Partitas 1 and 6 of J.S. Bach, his equally distinctive rendering
of Ballades Nos. 3 and 4 of Chopin, and his fine performance of the
Schubert Sonata Opus Posthumous. There is no bravura, there is no spectacularity,
but a restrained inner passion. If his interpretations need to be called
spectacular it is because of the complete absence of demonstrative pianism,
overly loud climaxes and the absence of peculiar tempi.
On the contrary. His performances take the listener far beyond the score.
He transcends the music, dematerializes it, while touching the inner
core of the composition, the essence, all shells having been peeled
off.
No wonder music
critic Warren
Demotte characterized the Remington record of the Schubert Sonata
Opus Posthume as follows: "Demus is in excellent form, technically
and interpretively; it is a pleasure to acknowledge the maturity of
his playing. This is one of Remington's best records."
And about the Chopin Balades he wrote: "Demus promises much for
the future in his sensitive performances of the Third and Fourth Balades."
About the Beethoven Sonatas: "Demus, in his early twenties, has
astonishing poetic maturity." And of Schubert's Moments Musicaux
Demotte commented: "Demus's playing is warm and caressing, characteristics
that are especially attractive in such a young pianist."
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Jorg
Demus at the time when his earliest recordings were released on
Remington Records and when he subsequently recorded for Westminster.
Image taken from Westminster WN 18044 with Mozart Sonatas and
Andante for two pianos/four hands with Paul Badura-Skoda which
were originally released in 1951 on Westminster WL 5060 and WL
5069 respectively, edited and restored by R.A.B.
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Another critic,
Cecil Smith of the New Republic, wrote in the April 23, 1951 edition:
"Jorg Demus and Alexander Jenner, neither of whom I ever
heard of, appear to be the best of Remington's pianists. Mr.
Demus plays Schubert's Moments Musicaux, Op. 94, with a buoyant
lilt, and gives musicianly accounts of two Beethoven sonatas,
Op. 109 and Op. 110. He plays the Fifth French Suite of Bach
with skill and clarity, though this music sounds much better
on the harpsichord. Mr. Jenner offers sensitive and attractive
performances of the Chopin Etudes Op. 25. In all these records
the piano sounds reasonably well, though not as well as it
can in the best full-price products".
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There is some confusion
among biographers and encyclopedists about the actual date of birth
of Jorg Demus. Some state December 2nd 1928. A Dutch encyclopedia mentions
March 2nd 1926 in the short biography. And yet another source calls
March 2nd 1928 as date of birth, while the liner notes of Westminster
WN 18044 mentions February 2nd 1929. Most of these could be caused by
misreading the handwriting of one or more clerks or producers/researcher
preparing the liner notes or the entries in an encyclopedia. This matter
still has to be cleared.
Jörg Demus
was born in Sankt Pölten in Niederösterreich and at the age
of six he commenced the study of the piano. At the early age of eleven
he was admitted to the "Viennese State Academy for Music and Dramatic
Art" (currently 'Universität für Musik und Darstellende
Kunst'). He made his debut at the "Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde"
(Society of Friends of Music) in Vienna when he was fourteen years old.
He studied composition with composer Joseph Marx, and piano and theory
with Walter Kerschbaumer - significant and familiar names for so many
students of that era. He also studied organ, with Karl Walter, conducting
with no less than Josef Krips and also composition with Johann Nepomuk
David.
For a longer or shorter period he studied with Edwin Fischer, Walter
Gieseking, Yves Nat and Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. He concertized
also at Vienna Konzerthaus, and traveled to give performances the Netherlands,
Switzerland, Italy, England, Germany, and South America. In 1956 he
won the "Busoni Prize" and two years later he was awarded
the "Harriet Cohen-Bach Medal" in London.
The Remington recordings
led to the contract with Westminster and by 1958 Demus had already a
long list of discs to his name with solo recordings, chamber music and
a few concertos. On his repertory: Beethoven, Franck, Mozart (with Paul
Badura-Skoda), Schmidt, and an extensive list of works by Schubert.
In the nineteen sixties Joerg Demus began recording for Deutsche Grammophon
as soloist, in chamber music ensembles, and as an accompanist of a.o.
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Schubert). He also accompanied Elly Ameling,
made recordings on original instruments on the BASF and Harmonia Mundi
labels, accompanied Peter Schreier on the Eterna label (Haydn Songs),
on Eurodisk performed again Bach and recorded Debussy's complete piano
music. To hear Beethoven and Schubert being played on a Hammerklavier
is not for everyone a treat because many pianists do not master the
old instruments sufficiently to perform the music with a colorful palette.
It suffice to hear Jörg Demus playing a William Stodart piano to
know that his style is rich in sound and has many nuances.
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Jörg
Demus receives The Beethoven Ring, presented to him by Mr. Klemens
Kramert, President of the Viennese Beethoven Society (Wiener Beethoven
Gesellschaft).
(Picture taken from the Eurodisc 2 Lp gatefold, reference 300
054-406, edited by R.A.B.).
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A specific proof
of Jörg Demus's art of interpretation was recorded on March 27th,
1977, when he received The Beethoven Ring (earlier only presented to
pianist Elly Ney and conductor Volkmar Andrae). Demus performed before
a live audience the Sonatas Nos. 8 (Pathétique), 17 (Der Sturm),
26 (Les Adieux) and 32. After hearing the first bars of the Sonata Pathétique,
or the introduction of 'Les Adieux' one realizes how distinguished the
approach of the maestro is and that it is completely in line with his
early recordings from the nineteen fifties: beautiful phrasing and subtle
dynamics. Although a performance before a live public represents a challenge,
it can be said that he masters the score in an intimate, yet affirmative
way.
The early Remington
recordings of Jörg Demus:
R-149-12
Chopin: Balades No. 3 in A flat major Op. 47 and No. 4 in F minor Op.
52 (also released on the Merit label: M1-18).
R-149-21 Schubert: Moments Musicaux Op. 94, D 780.
R-199-25
Bach: French Suite No. 5 and Partita No. 1 (Concerteum CR241)
R-199-29 Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 30 (Op. 109) and 31 (Op.
110) (Concerteum CR 239)
R-199-39 Schubert: Piano Sonata Opus Posthumus (Concerteum 310)
R-199-92
Bach: Partita No.
6 and Preludes and Fugues in G Major
and G Minor from The Well Tempered Clavier (Das Wohltemperierte Clavier);
in
France issued on Concerteum 309.
R-199-108/3 Bach's Six Partitas performed by Jörg Demus
on piano (Nos. 1 and 6), Sari Biro
on piano (No. 2) and pianist/harpsichordist John
Gillespie on harpsichord (Nos. 3, 4 and 5).
Note: At the end of World Qar II John Gillespie spent two years
at the Conservatoire Nationale de Paris, studying organ with André
Marchal and Marcel Dupré. He later returned to Paris for two
years of study at the Sorbonne. He completed his studies in the US and
received the Ph.D. in musicology in 1951.
Rudolf
A.Bruil, March 17th, 2005
